Eurovision excitement has already started with Greece announcing this year’s Eurovision act.
Greek TV bosses have confirmed that Amanda Tenfjord – real name Amanda Georgiadis – will be representing their nation.
This year, the Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Turin, at PalaOlimpico, in May.
The 25-year-old, who is studying to be a doctor, is a half Greek and half Norwegian singer-songwriter, born in Ioannina, Greece. She was raised in Norway.
Her Eurovision song is described as a strong, melodic and modern ballad with emotional overtones which cut deep. It’s a break-up song about a genuine relationship that’s expected to tear at the heart-strings.
Amanda has co-written the song with fellow Norwegian producer and songwriter, Bjørn Helge Gammelsæterx. Her vocal has a latent self-doubt, fragile vulnerability, which works well with such emotional songs. This, coupled with the slow-introspective song-style, seems to suit Amanda.
As a versatile artist, Amanda mixes modern pop, folk, electronic, alternative and ambient moods.
ERT, Greece’s national broadcaster, listened to an estimated 40 songs from 28 artists. The seven-member Greek jurors’ were solely given the task of assessing each of the applicant’s song merits and its potential Eurovision success.
The music experts were Dimitris Papadimitriou, composer, and President of its internal selection, Maria Kozakou, Fotis Apergis, Peter Adam, Giannis Petridis, Konstantinos Bourounis and Leonidas Antonopoulos.
Eurovision jurors whittled down the original entrants to just five short-listed finalists, formally announcing Amanda’s “beautiful” ballad, as the outright favourite, last December.
Amanda beat off the other four finalists in a highly competitive selection, who were, Good Job Nicky (Nikola Varthakouri) – the son of legendary singer Yiannis Parios, Ilias Kozas – lead frontman of Koza Mostra, pop-rock fusion artist Joanna Drigo and Entehno-styled singer Lou Is, or Louiza Sofianopoulou.
The Eurovision song and its song title too will be officially released alongside the music video by director, Kostas Karydas, in the coming weeks.
Amanda’s Eurovision circles confirmed that Fokas Evangelinos, a legendary creative director in Eurovision, will be responsible for the staging concept.
She has already had several television appearances and toured the European festival circuit. In 2017, Amanda was the recipient of a Role Model Award, in the Scandinavian, Nordic By:Larm music festival awards.
Amanda released her debut EP ‘First Impression’ and her most-streamed song on Spotify is ‘Then I Fell In Love’, which has racked up over 1.5 million views. In 2020, Netflix featured her song ‘Troubled Water’, in the series Spinning Out.
Last year’s Greek Eurovision act Stefania earned a Top 10 finish with a Dimitris Kontopoulos and Arcade production, ‘Last Dance’.
The Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Turin at PalaOlimpico and spans two mid-week Semi-Finals and a Final on Saturday 14th May 2022.
Greece competes in the first Semi-Final, on Tuesday 10th May, with only 10 acts advancing on the night.
Make sure you regularly return to lgr.co.uk to hear all the latest Eurovision news and by tuning into London Greek Radio on FM, on digital, via the LGR App and Smart Speaker, ‘Play London Greek Radio’.
